National Missing Children’s Day

On May 25th, 1979, 6 year old Etan Patz disappeared from a New York street corner on his way to school. At that time, cases of missing children rarely garnered national media attention, but Etan’s case quickly received a lot of coverage. His father, a professional photographer, distributed black-and-white photographs of Etan in an effort to find him. The resulting massive search and media attention that followed focused the public’s attention on the problem of child abduction and the lack of plans to address it.

The date of Etan’s disappearance has been designated as National Missing Children’s Day and was first commemorated in the United States on May 25, 1983, when it was first proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan. It falls on the same day as the International Missing Children’s Day.

The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is in full swing! The FLEOA Foundation is now an approved participant organization of the CFC. Its CFC participant number is 54726. (Page 56 in the CFC directory) Please remember the FLEOA foundation and its contribution to Law Enforcement when considering your choices. “Don’t go it alone